Tight Poker

[snickers99]

I'm playing .50/1 at Empire last night and this hand came up. Sorry...it was late (for me) last night and I'm at work right now, so no hand history. I'm the BB and I have . It's folded around to the button. He's a pretty good player...around 14% VIP, 10% PFR, not overly aggressive after the flop. Seems to know what he's doing...knows when he's beat and gets out. He raises. SB folds. I am almost positive he is stealing as I've seen him do it before. I'm pretty sure if I re-raise, he'll cap. If I call, I'll be out of position. I'm pretty sure if I call and then check on the flop, he'll bet. If I bet the flop, I think I got a 50/50 shot of him folding or raising. That's my thinking. I hardly defend my blinds and it's something I want to work on. I know it's my lack of aggression and I'm working on that, too. So, with a suited connector, is this a good time to defend? How? Raise preflop or see the flop? What kinds of hands should I consider defending with?

[mervhage]

Do you put him on two overs or do you feel like he could be making a move with a big pocket pair?

A little variation that goes a long way would be to 3-bet him and lead out on the flop as long as no ace appears, if you feel like you could induce him to fold. Of course this is going to cost you 2 small bets (or 3 if caps it) if you miss and he raises your flop bet.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to show down this one if you catch something, a little maniacal free advertising like "I can't believe that crazy fuck 3-bet with 98s!", this way next time you do the same thing you'll be holding a rockets or something.

Does this post make any sense? I'm half-conscious right now (b/c I'm at work).

[cavman]

i would fold. there are a lot of hands that play better heads-up than suited connectors. giving up your blind is better than defending it with a weak hand.

[caffiend]

If you're sure he'd bet I would call, and check-raise any piece of the flop at all. At low limits making a stand is more about getting the guy off your back than anything else. You want to sell him on the idea that he might be walking in to a tar pit every time he steals. One good shove will do that.

Jopke alert!

If you really have a 50/50 shot of him folding on the flop though, maybe you ought to let him keep stealing. If you call/bet with any two you'll be getting 1.75:1 on an even money shot. Assuming he never wised up you could take this guy to the cleaners.

[biggle10]

Call and donk a rag flop??

[caffiend]

i would fold. there are a lot of hands that play better heads-up than suited connectors. giving up your blind is better than defending it with a weak hand.

This is marginally true. On Poker Stars for a while I was stealing around 80% of the time, and averaging 1.6 BB/attempt in profit. Getting even a single reraise in my face would drop me to 30% or so for the rest of that game. The real trick is not spewing chips all over when defending with marginal hands.

[snickers99]

I should have mentioned that when I first sat down at the table, the guy was two places to my left. That's how I know he was probably trying to steal because I saw him do it a bunch of times, but never got to see what cards he had because most of the time the blinds would fold (it was a very passive table). He left and maybe 5 minutes later, he came back and sat two places to my right.

Do you put him on two overs or do you feel like he could be making a move with a big pocket pair?

Because I never saw what he was holding in his other attempts (see above), I really have no idea what he had. But it seems everytime I take a stand with my blinds in the past, the guy's got AA or KK.

I folded, but now I think (after reading the advice here) I should have called and bet the flop (or check-raised). He was multi-tabling. I might have gotten him to fold. I just figure with the suited connector, it opens up some things for me as opposed to calling with something like A4o just because I have an ace. And because the table was passive, if I came out swinging, it might have put a thought in his head that I was truly strong. If he was paying attention (or had PT), he would have noticed I was a tight player.

[iil_m0lly]

i would fold. there are a lot of hands that play better heads-up than suited connectors. giving up your blind is better than defending it with a weak hand.

is it just me or is this completely wrong? i would almost never fold 89s in this spot.

also if you think he'll cap then i wouldn't 3bet. i would just call.

[iil_m0lly]

A little variation that goes a long way would be to 3-bet him and lead out on the flop as long as no ace appears, if you feel like you could induce him to fold.

why don't you bet if an ace appears?

[caffiend]

Because I never saw what he was holding in his other attempts (see above), I really have no idea what he had. But it seems everytime I take a stand with my blinds in the past, the guy's got AA or KK.

That isn't unusual in passive games. They aren't really stealing, they just happen to have a premium hand in a steal position, which is why the frequency of steals is important. If a guy is putting a move on your blind once every ten or twenty orbits that's the to few percentage hands, and there's no reason to play back at him, ever. In fact, he's doing you a favor by telling you he's got the goods. If he's doing it every other trip around the table, well, then you've got to put your foot down sometime.

[caffiend]

i would fold. there are a lot of hands that play better heads-up than suited connectors. giving up your blind is better than defending it with a weak hand.

is it just me or is this completely wrong? i would almost never fold 89s in this spot.

It's neither right nor wrong. In a 3:2 chip game you're getting the right price to call with almost any two cards. The only thing to consider is what you're going to do after the flop. If you can bust the guy up with a suited connector it's an easy call, if you expect he'll kick your ass it's an easy fold. So it depends on both your opponent and how comfortable you are playing 89s heads up.

[alanpsych]

I know this thread is ancient, but this is a good question, so I'll chime in. At 3.5:1 odds, folding is pretty weak, imho, especially vs. a guy who will fold post-flop. This is also a really easy hand to fold on an ugly flop (non-hearts, overcards). However, you can even chase him out of a hand if you both miss.

Having said that, vs. a reasonable player, I lose less money by playing it straight and not getting stubborn when things get ugly. In other words, don't be afraid to fold the flop. Being oop makes it a pretty tough situation, but I'm convinced that you're losing money if you routinely fold this.

[NutzReelBig]

i would have laid it down also depending on how i feel usually i lay it down

[travis]

Call. CR any draw or pair (assuming there's no A on the flop). You're getting 3.5 to 1 odds preflop so this is a call. That is unless you're really uncomfy playing out the blinds then I suppose you could fold and not go broke.

However if you dont' start calling here in higher stakes you'll go broke.

[goofyballer]

Well, we could all go ask JP how he defends with 9-8 suited...or look at Jace's signature